Preacher wins freedom of speech

A woman's arrest for preaching vehemently on the steps of Wakefield cathedral led to a ringing defence of freedom of speech yesterday by a high court judge.

Lord Justice Sedley insisted that this freedom encompassed "the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and provocative". He invoked the classical Greek philosopher Socrates and warned against state attempts to control unofficial ideas.

"Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having", he declared. "... A police officer has no right to call upon a citizen to desist from lawful conduct."

He allowed an appeal by Alison Redmond-Bate of Leeds against her conviction by magistrates for obstructing a police officer in the course of his duty by her preaching. The conviction had been upheld by a crown court.

Faith Ministries, a Leeds fundamentalist group, has a history of court appearances for outspoken preaching in public places.

The group, set up in Britain 10 years ago, sees its role as "evangelical ministry". American groups using the same title are dedicated to "holding forth, contending for and propagating the word worldwide".

In 1997 two of the British group's male members served three weeks in prison after four arrests for obstruction while shouting "sinners" at drinkers leaving pubs in York.

In the same year, in what was said to be the first criminal charge brought against street preachers this century, Ms Redmond-Bate, then aged 24, and her father Alan, then 51, the group's founder, were found guilty of wilful obstruction after allegedly "unsettling" a York crowd by warning people not to turn their backs on God.

Yesterday the high court heard that a crowd of more than 100 gathered and shouted "bloody lock them up" and "shut up" when Ms Redmond-Bate, her mother and another woman preached on the cathedral steps.

A police officer fearing a breach of the peace asked the women to stop. Ms Redmond-Bate continued when her colleagues were arrested.

Lord Justice Sedley said Leeds crown court had wrongly concluded that "lawful conduct can, if persisted in, lead to conviction for wilful obstruction of a police officer.

"This proposition has no basis in law," the judge said. Only if there was "a reasonable apprehension" that lawful conduct would provoke violence by interfering with the rights of others was an officer empowered to take steps to prevent it.

In Ms Redmond-Bate's case there was no lawful basis for the arrest as "nobody had to stop and listen". But if they did so they were "as free to express the view that the preachers should be locked up or silenced as [Redmond-Bate] and her companions were to preach".

Mr Justice Sedley said it had been suggested that a speaker could not be accused of a breach of the peace "so long as what she said was inoffensive".

He ruled: "This will not do. Free speech includes not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative provided it does not tend to provoke violence.

"From the condemnation of Socrates to the persecution of modern writers and journalists, our world has seen too many examples of state control of unofficial ideas."

Lord Justice Sedley's reputation as a legal liberal stretches back to his work as a barrister in the 1970s.

Last night John Wadham, director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "We might not agree with everything the defendant said, but this is what makes our support for her right to say it so important."